After Mistakenly Provoking The Soft, Unhinged Princess O - Chapter 4

After Yu Qingci gave her sincere praise, she kept feeling that the look Yan Lingshu gave her had turned colder.

But if they were acting, they had to act properly. Since Yu Su was still in the residence, they had to pretend to be a loving married couple.

“Your Highness, breakfast is ready,” a maidservant reminded softly from outside the inner chamber.

“All right.” Yan Lingshu answered gently and slowly rose.

Yu Qingci stood beside her and was about to follow her out when she suddenly felt the person beside her move a little more sluggishly. She turned her head to look more closely, and sure enough, she saw Yan Lingshu’s brows furrow as if she were unwell. Her steps were very slow too.

“Is Your Highness feeling unwell somewhere?” Yu Qingci asked at once. “If you really feel uncomfortable, we should invite a physician to take a look. It’s all right if we go to the Yu Estate a little later.”

As the consort, she was supposed to live with Yan Lingshu in the princess’s residence. On the first day after their wedding, she only needed to return to the Yu Estate with Yan Lingshu to pay respects and serve tea, completing the proper etiquette.

Since they were going back to her own home, Yu Qingci felt she could at least make that much of a decision.

It had been a well-meaning concern, but who would have thought that the moment she finished speaking, Yan Lingshu would stop and say coldly, “There is no need.”

Yu Qingci looked at her, not understanding why.

Yan Lingshu deliberately quickened her steps, leaving only a cold back view behind.

Yu Qingci stopped where she was and looked at Yan Lingshu’s high collar. That collar was enough to hide the injuries around Yan Lingshu’s neck, as well as the slightly swollen gland at the back of her neck… Wait!

Yu Qingci abruptly realized something. She seemed to know why Yan Lingshu was uncomfortable.

Although she had been single since birth for many years, she had read a few yuri novels and was not so innocent that she knew absolutely nothing.

Last night, she had been a beginner, with no sense of how hard or soft to be. Several times, she had angered Yan Lingshu so much that Yan Lingshu had fiercely clawed at her back and shoulders. When Yu Qingci was getting dressed, she had deliberately looked in the mirror and found several red nail marks across her back and shoulders. One or two of them had even broken the skin.

The Fifth Princess had been so ruthless, but Yu Qingci did not dare complain in the slightest. She could only pretend nothing had happened.

Even now, when she moved her back, she could still feel faint stinging pain. Then what about Yan Lingshu? Was she walking so slowly because she was too uncomfortable?

Yu Qingci’s heart was tangled with worry. She wanted to ask, but did not dare. She did not even have the courage to persuade Yan Lingshu to apply medicine to her gland, let alone ask about that place. She was afraid that the moment she asked, Yan Lingshu would immediately order someone to throw her out and bury her.

Yu Qingci slowly walked behind her, then slowly sat down beside the dining table.

Having suddenly transmigrated into an unfamiliar world, with danger lurking all around her, she really had no… appetite?

Yu Qingci lifted her eyes and looked at the table full of breakfast. There was a dazzling variety, everything one could need.

Placed beside her hand was a plate of crystal-clear dumplings. Through the thin wrappers, she could see the rich fillings inside. Every dumpling had a different filling, and the aroma of the food rushed into her nose.

Yu Qingci swallowed subconsciously, and her stomach chose just the right moment to growl.

Yu Qingci covered her empty stomach and looked pitifully toward the person across from her.

Yan Lingshu originally had no appetite. She had long since grown tired of looking at these dishes. Whether she ate them or not made no difference.

But the person opposite her looked at her so pitifully, as if she would not dare move her chopsticks unless Yan Lingshu moved hers first.

The maidservants in the residence had all been arranged by the empress. There was no need to reveal anything suspicious over such a small matter.

Suppressing the slight disgust in her heart, Yan Lingshu picked up her spoon and slowly drank a mouthful of hot porridge.

Seeing this, Yu Qingci immediately picked up her chopsticks and reached straight for the crystal dumplings closest to her.

The maidservant waiting beside her wanted to serve food into her bowl, but Yu Qingci raised a hand and waved her off, saying indistinctly, “No need. I can do it myself.”

Being watched while she ate already affected her appetite a little. If she had to wait for them to place the buns one by one into her bowl, she was afraid the buns would be cold before she was full.

The more Yu Qingci ate, the happier she became. Forgive her for being uncultured, but after eating far too many prepackaged meals, tasting such rich and delicious royal cuisine so suddenly made her feel that every worry and sorrow could be thrown beyond the ninth heaven.

She did not forget to remind Yan Lingshu either. “This one is delicious… This one is good too… Don’t just drink porridge. Hurry and try some.”

She dared say it, but she did not dare pick any up for her, afraid that even if she did, the other person would refuse to eat it.

Yan Lingshu had been tastelessly sipping the sweet porridge. Seeing Yu Qingci eat with such enthusiasm, even talking as she ate, a faint dislike rose in her heart. Yet for some reason, the more she watched the other person eat heartily, the emptier her own stomach felt.

Yu Qingci’s table manners were not actually ugly. She ate quickly, but did not make any noise. She was like an emotionless machine that cared only about inhaling food like a storm.

But her expression was far too blissful, as if the breakfast before her were a delicacy found only in heaven and nowhere on earth, and eating even a little less would be an insult to her stomach.

From yesterday until now, Yan Lingshu had eaten very little.

Qinhe stood nearby watching, truly anxious in her heart. She very much wanted to speak up and coax her, but she did not dare say too much.

She had already been reckless enough today and could not provoke Her Highness’s displeasure again. So she could only test the waters by following Yu Qingci’s recommendations, picking up a crystal dumpling and a plump white bun and placing them into Yan Lingshu’s bowl.

Yan Lingshu’s eyes moved slightly. She looked at the two extra dishes in the porcelain bowl. After staring at them for quite a while, no one knew what she was thinking. When the person opposite her began drinking porridge, she finally picked up her chopsticks and slowly tasted the crystal dumpling.

“Wow, this porridge tastes really good too. Sweet but not greasy, warm as it goes down. No wonder Your Highness likes drinking it.” Across from her, Yu Qingci let out genuine praise, holding the porridge bowl and drinking from it with a face full of happiness.

After Yan Lingshu finished one dumpling and looked up to see that expression, her brows furrowed slightly.

She picked up her spoon and tasted a mouthful.

The porridge was still the same porridge. The flavor was still the same flavor. There had not been the slightest change.

But perhaps because she was influenced by the other person, she felt that today’s breakfast was not so hard to swallow.

Hope rose in Qinhe’s heart. Seeing Yu Qingci’s chopsticks reach somewhere, she immediately followed and picked up the same thing.

Yan Lingshu noticed her actions, but said nothing, allowing her to continue.

It was just that no matter how good her appetite became, it could not compare with Yu Qingci’s.

Yu Qingci was like a bottomless pit. Under her storm-like inhaling, there was almost nothing left of the entire table of breakfast.

Yan Lingshu had eaten more than usual, but there were still two little buns left in her bowl.

“Your Highness won’t eat anymore?” Yu Qingci asked tentatively.

Yan Lingshu nodded.

Yu Qingci immediately reached out. “Then I’ll eat them. We shouldn’t waste food.”

She brought Yan Lingshu’s bowl directly in front of herself, gathered all the remaining breakfast from the table into it, and began wiping it out without blinking.

Yan Lingshu froze. She had thought Yu Qingci was about to put down her chopsticks. Who would have expected the other person to start eating again?

Not only did she eat her own portion, she even ate Yan Lingshu’s portion too.

Qinhe also looked across at her in surprise. Was the consort’s appetite really that good?

Everyone’s gazes gathered on her. After Yu Qingci finished the last bun, she rubbed her satisfied stomach and smiled shyly. “I ate too little yesterday, so I’m a little hungry today.”

That was what she said, but even she was a little surprised by her own appetite. Could she really eat this much? She had never felt that way before.

Yu Qingci rubbed her stomach. It had a just-right little curve, but she did not feel the bloating that came from overeating. Instead, she felt full of strength from head to toe, wishing she could run a hundred or eighty laps outside to burn off her energy.

“Your Highness, the gifts for the visit to the Yu Estate have been prepared.” After breakfast was cleared away, a maidservant outside the chamber entered to report, handing over a list with both hands. “This is the list of gifts for paying respects. May Your Highness look it over.”

In the past, it had been enough for such matters to pass before Yu Su’s eyes. But today was not like the past. Now that the steward of the princess’s residence had become Qinhe, who served at the princess’s side, the servants like them ought to change their way of doing things too.

Qinhe accepted the list and passed it to Yan Lingshu.

Yu Qingci sat across from them watching. Noticing the long list written on the paper, she quickly turned and asked the maidservant behind her, “Have my gifts been prepared?”

The maidservant beside her had come from the Yu Estate, so she should know about these things.

Hearing Yu Qingci ask this, the maidservant Xiaxi froze for a moment, then answered cautiously, “The consort said yesterday that there was no need to prepare gifts for today’s return.”

Yu Qingci froze. That did indeed sound like something the original owner would say.

But she had already married and moved out of the Yu Estate. Now that she was bringing her wife back with her, how could she really bring nothing at all?

Even if the people of the Yu Estate could not distinguish whose gifts were whose, she still had to make a show of it. At the very least, she had to make Yan Lingshu feel she was someone who handled matters thoroughly.

“I’ve changed my mind. Go have them open the storeroom and choose a few things.”

Xiaxi answered and left.

About a quarter of an hour later, Xiaxi still had not returned.

Yu Qingci rose, intending to go take a look. Just then, a young maidservant outside hurried in and anxiously reported, “Consort, there’s trouble at the storeroom. Sister Xiaxi has been blocked by Zhuling and the others. Sister Zhuling said, said…”

The young maidservant stammered and did not dare finish.

Yu Qingci asked calmly, “What did she say?”

The young maidservant closed her eyes and answered in one breath, “Sister Zhuling said that without her permission, no one is allowed to touch anything in the storeroom.”

Yu Qingci raised a brow and gave a light laugh of unclear meaning. “Oh, is that so?”

Yan Lingshu was sitting on the soft couch. Hearing that laugh, she could not help lifting her head to look over.

She seemed to have heard a trace of interest in Yu Qingci’s voice.